Memory like a fading fire(Part 1)

It was the next day after I got lost in the forest, everything was quite okay for the time being, we were attending the summer school normally as every other previous day and also practiced our activities

Lately, I have started not to miss every single shot I take with a bow, unlike Takito, which still can't hold a bow properly but he doesn't want to give up due to our word

Shortly after we were tasked to carry wooden planks from the road back to the camp, which was specifically the boys' work, the girls continued to prepare the shrine and the place the event will be held

I have never seen an event like that so I'm excited to see what we are going to do, they say it's not an event that takes place at this time of the year but the school chose to do it for our sake, they even told us that we can throw no damageable things inside the fire to burn, even books, but everyone will probably throw a charm inside

"Damn man! This is hard! Why do the girls get to peacefully do the decorations and we are out here like slaves carrying heavy wood back and forth?" Takito asked as he struggled to move a tree

We were both sweating like crazy

"Don't underestimate the decorating work! That's how things are, boys do the lifting, and girls do the caring"

"Well, I could use a hand from a girl..." Takito said as he put the wood down

He then lied near it

That's understandable, it was our fourth log and our last too, I was exhausted too but thankfully all the lifting I do in the gym doesn't go to waste and I have built a body durable enough to handle that

"Let's go, our destination is not long from here, so surfer for a little more with me"

Takito then picked up the log and started moving, I followed him

…

"Finally!" Takito said as he threw the log near the structure the girls and some boys had set up

"Why do we even bother to put them like that?" I dared to ask

I quickly got slapped on the back of my head by my teacher

"We are in a forest genius, by setting a structure like that and surrounding it with rocks fire won't spread out and kill us"

I guess she is right about the rock part but I'm not sure about the structure part so I won't talk further to avoid getting slapped again

"That's all for today kids! Now to reward you for all you did we are going on a trip!" Terresa said as she dramatically stopped talking

…

"... Aren't you going to ask me where?" She asked with a sad tone in her voice

"Where?" Someone asked

"To shop obviously!"

"If it was obvious you wouldn't have to spell it out for us" I mumbled

"What are we going to shop now?" Ichika asked

She looked tired and assumed this would be another job set by our evil final boss

"For charms and yukatas! Now that you are young and beautiful you should also treat yourself to some beautiful clothes, remember, this is a school dance where boys and girls get closer together, don't you have anyone you want to impress after spending this much time together?" Terresa said with her usual devilish smile

I think she enjoys school love more than school girls themselves

I was surprised by the positive reaction to this news, everybody looked happy and ready to shop

"We should go and take a shower Su-kun, this day is going to be exciting"

Takito's attitude seemed to change relatively fast

"Sure" I said as we both slightly ran to our room

I took a lukewarm shower first and Takito followed by taking his shower, by the time he was done I was dressed up to head to town

"You don't seem happy about us shopping for yukatas or charms, you may not be accustomed to them I assume? Whatever the case is try to smile a little, the girls seemed way happier than I am, don't spoil their fun!" Takito said

He sounded somewhat wise, that's not something I expected by a goof like him but I assume I judged him a little too hard

~That's right Su-kun you judge people too early, let them bloom a bit before unrooting them off your life~ 

Yu told me in the back of my head

…

After some minutes everyone was quickly readied up, it was the first time I saw a group of people get ready this fast, our absence of the outside world made them thirst to go back to the cities, I guess I can't blame them, I could never understand them even if I tried

"I can't wait to see what kind of yukatas they will sell! Hey Su-kun will you buy a yukata?" Yua asked me excited

"Probably, is it like a kimono?"

"Tch, Tch, Tch, kimonos, and yukatas have their difference not only in material and quality but also in their uses, kimonos are used for events like festivals, but yukatas are used for any occasion people can wear them casually if they want on summer days since they aren't as thick as a kimono, but it really comes down to the season!" Takito said proudly as if he is showing off his knowledge1

"Don't act smart! That's common knowledge for us, it okay to expect Su-kun not to know that" Yua said in a mad-sounding tone

"Well that's good, I know about the charms since we discussed it before, now let's go to the city to see what we can buy"

Everyone quickly walked until we reached the road, a school bus picked up our class and dropped us off near the center of Niigata, the city known for its beautiful scenery and rice fields, sadly we aren't going to see any of this today since we are headed straight to the shops to buy all the stuff we need

"This is a girls-only shopping session, see you later in Kameda Park" Yua said as she dragged Trita and Ichika with her

"Girls almost always want to impress boys so that must be the reason they don't want us to go with them, that's natural" Takito told me as he started walking in the opposite direction

It's kind of wild to think that our school practically allowed us to go shopping by ourselves, of course, a teacher is nearby us but they are still letting us roam free the city of Niigata

Speaking of the devil we bumped into Terresa, she had already two bags hugging from each of her arms

"How did you possibly buy so many things in such a short time? Are you Sonic or something?"

"It's not that I'm fast, you are too slow!" She said as she almost disappeared in a flash

I guess we are kind of slow

Takito and I walked relaxed in this big and busy city and checked multiple shops for yukatas and other stuff, in some cases I caught Takito trying to flirt with some city girls, it simply slowed us down but it was fun seeing him fool around with random people, it made me do the same too but not for long, I don't like to talk to strangers

…

"What do you think of this one?" Takito asked me as he showed me a red Yukata

It looked a bit odd but it wasn't bad, but honestly, the colors don't suit him so I told him to look for something else, he looked a bit sad

"Hey, what about this one?" Takito asked me

This time it was a green one that matched his hair color

"That's much better" I said as I started to seriously search for a yukata of my own

It was quite hard to find an appealing one, if Yua was here she would probably tell me something along the lines of

"No clothe can help you with the ugly aura your eyes send off"

I don't know why I'm thinking of what she will think... Maybe I'm hoping this dance will be something more special, maybe Trita and Takito won't be the only ones falling in love...

Yua always seemed the type to try hard on everything even the most minor things, but one thing she never did was brag about it, she never runs around announcing all her achievements, I know she did that occasionally to mess with me but she never actually intended to flex, that's one thing I like about her

Another thing is how she gets mad about other people, she gets mad for her friends and she also got mad at herself for what happened once between me and the third-year (the fight) instead of me who actually did the damage

She is also enjoyable to talk to, once we are alone she talks truthfully and wisely, and I bet being the daughter of such a smart man made her more educated and wiser than other people her age, mostly to fill the expectation the world has for her, I have been in her place, having to better myself to not ruin the reputation of my father, to not ruin the image the people have for me

"He is Domic's son so he must be good at sports and, and, and, and"

All those "ands" that I never actually was interested in even trying I had to perfect just to fill the expectations...

Why do I think of this again? Why did I try to be someone I wasn't?

…

"Are you okay Su? You look very pale" Takito told me as he shook my shoulder

"Yeah..."

I continued to search for a yukata but this time I made sure not to space out and think of useless things again, things like that should stick in the past

"Hey Su-kun, this one looks classy! Take a look at it!" Takito said as he stood in front of a dark blue Yukata

It was the same one I saw in my dream the other day

"Did this catch your eye? If yes then you have a nice taste! This is yukata that was donated by a flower farmer a long time ago, it has good quality but sadly nobody seems to be interested in buying it" The man owning the shop told us as he looked at the yukata

"I will take it" I said without thinking

"Really? Don't just buy it because you feel bad" The owner told me

"No it's not that, I want it, I don't care how much it costs I want it!"

This yukata was something I saw in my dreams and loved at first sight, the dark blue color with the flower designs on it, it wasn't something special but it sure feels like it is

"It's actually cheap..." The owner said as he checked it over the counter, I quickly paid and both me and Takito exited the store

"Wait you didn't even try it!" Takito told me with a scared face

"It will fit"

Takito looked at me a bit worryingly but didn't say anything else

"Should we find the others?"

"There is a place I want the two of us to visit before going to see the others"

I was a bit surprised that Takito planned something without telling me, I don't know what it is but it can't probably hurt

We walked and walked until we reached a certain part of the city

"I lied..." Takito said with a sad tone in his voice

"Eh?"

"I won't be able to continue attending this school Iriasu-kun" Takito said as he turned around with a serious look on his face

"I don't know what to do with my future and I don't have a clear plan either, I'm just going to a private school just because I can, there isn't any goal I want to pursue, and my family isn't doing well so wasting money on taking me to this school is only hurting us more, my mother never actually forced me to go to the camp because of my grades but because she wanted me to have a better education, I'm the worst aren't I? I don't even have the balls to tell my parents that I don't know what the hell I'm doing wasting all this money they make for me"

Takito said as his body trembled

I don't know how to respond to that, I think I don't need to respond, simply listening will do

"Can you keep that a secret from the others? If they learn this they will probably be sad so to prevent that I want you to do me a last favor... I want you not to talk to me ever again and forget about me" Takito said with a forced smile

"Isn't anything you want to do in the school? Playing football makes you happy, doesn't it? You could focus on that and maybe go to a football academy later on, students that go to Yusuke High have a higher chance to get in"

"That's petty Iriasu-kun, a hobby like that won't take me anywhere, and thinking like that won't help me either"

I think whatever I say won't do it

"Years ago I was doing badly in school I didn't have any friends and didn't do anything but curse the world but after reflecting on myself multiple times I realized that I can do whatever I want if I try hard enough without giving up, I just found ways to get over economical and ability problems with the little I had and I think you should do the same, petty or not football is something I can never come close to you and probably that's true for most of the boys in our school, embrace that spark of talent you have and use it to get what you want, but your decision is yours in the end but before you decide remember that your parents do that for reason, they try hard for you to succeed, respect their view of things too before taking this life-changing decision"

Takito looked at me empty and didn't say a word, he simply started walking and I followed

I hope a friendship like ours doesn't end just because of one moment of weakness...